Yes, I’m still running for the US Congress and if you’ve noticed that this blog has not been updated as much as it once was, that is why.  It’s taking up a lot of my time, but I will still try to add fresh content to this site.

One thing that certainly needs to be mentioned is that the campaign still is very much in need of donations.   We’ve received a few very generous contributions, but it has proven to be an extremely expensive endeavor.   If you can chip in a few dollars or a few hundred, it will help a great deal.   I cannot take any donations from those outside the United States (unless you’re a US citizen living abroad.)   That is simply federal election law.  There has always been concern that foreign interests could influence US politics, so it is illegal to in any way fund a US campaign.

There is now also a campaign store, where bumper stickers, shirts and so on can be purchased.  Because a portion of these purchases goes to the campaign, they can also only be purchased by US citizens.   If there’s a lot of demand for them from outside the US, we’ll consider allowing foreign citizens to buy them at cost, thus avoiding that problem, but as it stands that’s not currently being offered.  Really, I don’t see much reason why someone outside the US would want the campaign gear, anyway.

There are some things that anyone can do to help out, including foreign nationals and those who might not have a lot of money.  Some of the things that can be done are listed here.

The campaign needs help getting the word out on social media.   We also are trying to get news submitted to various sites to get more attention.  It helps a lot when such submissions come from multiple parties.

One thing we really need is a Wikipedia entry for the candidacy.  It’s really better if that kind of thing is done by a third party, not associated officially with the campaign.  It makes the article more credible and avoids it looking like it’s been written entirely by the campaign for good PR.   If it has multiple authors and editors, that is even better.  I certainly don’t want to write it myself, because that makes it look like little more than a self-produced advertisement.

We also need residents of Connecticut and especially the Third District who can help out in some other ways.

The item shown bellow is a tritium-containing radiolumonescent key chain.  It’s basically a small glass vial containing radioactive tritium gas and coated with a phosphorescent compound and placed in a clear plastic case.   Tritium is a weak beta emitter with a half life of 12.3 years.  Because the beta particles are very low in energy, they are entirely blocked by the glass and are not detectable on the surface of the key chain.  The beta particles ionize the phosphorescent compound and produce a steady glow, most often in green (the brightest and most visible color) but also available in other colors.  Because of the 12.3 year half life of tritium, these key chains can be used for several years before there’s any noticeable reduction in brightness.

They’re really great little items and the perfect gift for just about any occasion.   For one thing, they’re an interesting conversation piece and a very good example of a practical application of radioactivity.   They demonstrate that you can indeed keep something radioactive in our pocket and be quite safe and they’re very eye-catching.

They also have quite a bit of practical value.  Finding your keys in the dark is very easy with one of these key chains.  In fact, it’s so easy that if you happen to misplace your keys, the easiest way to find them is to turn off the lights.  When entering your home or starting your car in complete darkness, the glowing key chain provides just enough light to easily select the correct key and use it without fumbling.   If you happen to drop the keys on the dark floor of your car, you can find them very quickly and without effort.   You can even see the glow of the keys if they are under a seat or somehow otherwise obscured from direct view.  You can get different colors and use them to mark different key chains, making it very easy to grab the correct one, even in complete darkness.

I’ve had these key chains before (and broken a couple by mistake).  I can attest to just how useful they are.   There’s also no other way of getting this same value without using radioactive material.  An electrically illuminated key chain could not provide such continuous periods of glow without the batteries quickly running out.   Standard phosphorescent glowing items are limited to a few hours of illumination and must be exposed to light first in order to glow, making them useless for something like a key chain, which is often kept in one’s pocket.

There’s only one problem with these amazing little glowing key chains:  nobody in the US sells them, at least not directly.   Technically, these are not approved for sale or ownership in the United States, although I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for owning one.  Many people do own them and talk about them openly online and elsewhere.  It might just be one of those things that hasn’t shown up on the radar of a bureaucrat who was asinine enough to bother to do something about it.

Still, there are stories about their thugs stopping sales of these key chains on sites like eBay.  It seems that these days most of those sold on eBay are coming from sellers who are not located within the United States.  Exactly how much trouble you could potentially get in for these remains unclear, but it appears to be a case of selective enforcement.  (So if you have one, don’t ever leave the federal government looking for an excuse to call you a terrorist.)

Yet while the government may tolerate people owning them, you can’t buy them from any major retailer.   They can be purchased on the “grey market,” imported in relatively small batches or sold over the internet.  They can be bought from foreign retailers, like those in the UK, who will generally ship to the US without problem.   The best place to buy them, however, tends to be eBay, where numerous sellers will sell to US customers.

That, however, was not good enough for me.  I know a great product when I see one and these things are inexpensive, extremely useful and very easy to sell.  I had bought one and people were constantly asking me about it and where to get one.   I wanted to sell these, and not just by keeping it on the down-low, selling them on auction websites or to friends.  I wanted to really sell them, importing them wholesale and selling them openly and in quantity.

I also didn’t want even the slight potential to have the NRC knocking at my door, which does occasionally happen when someone tries to sell them in the US.   One would think that the government has better things to do, but of course, they don’t.

I thought it would be easy to do.  After all, these things are very readily available in other countries, and by “other countries,” I don’t mean just Russia, Zimbabwe and Cuba.  They can be bought in the UK.  They are brought into the US all the time.  They’re also perfectly safe.   Of course, I assumed wrong, but this was a few years ago, long before I had gained a full understanding of the bureaucracy that is the NRC.

I e-mailed, called and faxed the NRC several times about this matter.  I cannot even begin to explain how difficult they were.   First, nobody at the agency seemed to understand what I wanted to do or what the devices were for.  They told me that if I wanted to start the process of getting a consumer product containing radioactive material approved, I could get some paperwork to start the ball rolling, but it would be several thousand dollars just to begin and would take more than a year.  I told them I believed the items qualified as being license-exempt, since other items of comparable function and contents, such as illuminated watches are.   They didn’t seem to understand what I was getting at.

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I realize I have been rather quiet about the run for the US Congress.  It turns out that it has taken a lot more time and effort just to do the basics and get things setup.  I just got the website hosting account setup a few days ago.  I hope to have the full website up soon, probably by the end of the week if things go according to plan.

In the meantime, I have a temporary page up that has little more than a logo, but just the same, if you’d like to bookmark it and admire the logo you can do so at:

packard2012.org

This blog post is to serve as the official public notice that I will be running in the race for the United States Congress for the 3rd District of the State of Connecticut.  It is my intent to run as a Republican and will be running in the primary.

At this point my campaign and committee has not yet been recognized as an official campaign by the Federal Election Commission or that of the State, but that is pending and should happen very shortly.  As I finalize the paperwork, I will need to find others who will be part of the campaign committee.  If you happen to live in the state of Connecticut and would like to be part of the committee, please contact me, but hurry because the committee may be finalized shortly.  After that, adding members will require amending the paperwork, and I can’t promise when that could happen.

The first tentative committee meeting will be held this coming Saturday.   It will be in the New Haven area, although the venue for the meeting has not yet been finalized.

In the next week, a website as well as social media pages on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter will come online.   The first campaign statements will also be released on the website.

The biggest thing I need right now are donations.   US citizens can donate up to $2500.

Please send a check or money order to:

Packard 2012
939 Dixwell Avenue – Unit 9
Hamden, CT 06437

Please make checks out to “Stephen Packard” and write “US Congress Campaign” in the memo field of the check.  In the near future I will be able to accept checks made out to the campaign, which should happen very shortly, once all the official paperwork for the committee has been completed and accepted by the appropriate agencies.  In the mean time, please make the checks out to me but use the memo field to indicate that it is for the congressional campaign.

I realize that most would prefer to make donations via credit card or some other means, and that will be coming shortly, but the first $5000 donated requires some specific documentation, and the easiest way to do this is to accept it in a paper form and copy the checks for submission as documentation of the donations.   Alternate means of donating are coming soon.

There is one other thing I need help with.   I need a motto.   Here are some ideas, but please feel free to add your own if you can think of one.

• Increase America’s Ability To Do Work
• Energize America
• Energize the Economy, Empower the People
• Reverse the Political Entropy
• Energy For a Bright Future
• Push it to the Limit, the Carnot Limit
• Energy Should Be Dense, Politicians Shouldn’t Be
• Energy is Wealth
• Over Time, Energy Is Power
• The Pro-Thermodynamics Candidate
• My Platform Is Thermodynamics
• The Energy To Work For You

And I need to figure out the logo.   Here are some ideas.

• The name with an orbiting ball (electron) or two, implying the Bohr model of the atom.
• A logo incorporating a lightning bolt
• A logo incorporating gears, possibly with some reference to American industry and fortitude
• A logo incorporating a light bulb

Here is a simple breakdown on where I stand on a broad range of issues.   There are certainly some that have not been included, and I plan on making some further posts to include more.   This should be considered a basic platform outline, which may omit some of the finer details, which will need to be fleshed out later.

Central Issues:

Energy - A very central issue to me.   My take is far from what has become the mainstream.  I am pro-energy production, usage and development.  Energy is like wealth, you can’t have enough of it and the more you have the better off you are.   We should develop domestic energy sources to the maximum and transition to an energy strategy that uses nuclear fission as our primary foundational energy source.  Other important areas for energy development include greater use of electricity for heating, industrial processes and transportation and the use of synthetic fuels.   Ultimately this is the future of prosperous, bountiful energy.

One of my number one issues with regards to moving the US forward in energy policy will be the disbandment of the NRC and the creation of pro-energy nuclear regulatory bodies within the US Department of Energy.

The Environment – Environmental policy is another central issue and one that every government should keep front and center.   While there are many aspects to environmental policy, there is one problem which stands out as the biggest environmental issue of our time:  The use of coal as a fuel for power generation.   Coal is devastating at every level.  Mining it destroys vast areas of pristine land.  The exhaust from coal burners kills tens of thousands per year and is the single largest contributor to US greenhouse emissions.   Coal ash is a toxic product which is not being properly regulated for storage and disposal.    Our number one environmental goal should be to reduce coal usage, while at the same time being wary of becoming dependent on gas, which has high price volatility and limited domestic supplies.

Government Scientific Research – While there is a need to cut Federal spending, this is not the place to do it.  Our science programs, such as national laboratories, the space program and government research institutes took decades and billions of dollars to develop.  They are national treasures and the cost of their upkeep is miniscule compared to the benefits they offer.

I strongly support expansion of domestic science capacity, including construction of more research and isotope reactors, establishment of a long-term manned space strategy and providing secure long term funding to government science institutions.

At the same time we must stop wasting money on things like the National Institutes For Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, which is a national embarrassment.

Spending and Taxation – Spending within the US government must be reduced dramatically.   This can be achieved by cutting questionable infrastructure programs, such as commuter rail in areas that are unlikely to utilize it and through the consolidation of social programs, reducing waste and redundancy.   We must also spend more carefully on homeland security, ending ineffective programs.  Mushrooming social spending must be addressed.   Cuts should be focused on mandatory spending programs and reducing debt accumulation.

Increasing taxes is never desirable, but increasing taxation on upper brackets to pre-2000 levels will be necessary to pay off the enormous burden of debt that the US has acquired.  We are also losing enormous amounts of money by making mortgage interest tax-deductable.   This program was intended to help small time homebuyers but has been used extensively by the highest economic classes.   At this point it is likely necessary to the viability of the American realestate system.  Therefore, I would not suggest repealing it completely, but rather capping the write-off.

Homeland Security – I strongly support comprehensive and robust homeland security programs that can protect the US from a wide variety of threats.  These include both early intervention and last line of defense measures.  Programs need to involve both military and civilian agencies.   I strongly support a comprehensive and effective national airspace defense program to assure that any threat from aircraft or missiles can be neutralized.   I also support increasing the focus on the survivability and response capacity of government functions.

In contrast, ineffective programs and agencies such as the Transportation Security Agency and the use of radiation scanners at ports must be terminated.  These are expensive and useless or worse.

Foreign Policy – The US must regain a leadership role in the world and take measures to improve its international presence.  While strengthening ties with allies, we must not kowtow to any and never cave to apologetic or shame for our ideals.  I am a supporter of “big stick diplomacy.”  While military engagements should only be used as a last resort, we cannot show a lack of willingness to use whatever means are necessary to defend the interests of the United States.   With certain regimes we must be more forceful.

At the same time, conflicts we are engaged in like Afghanistan need to be reassessed.   It is pointless to be in such an engagement unless we have a clear idea what the objective is.  We must show greater restraint in becoming involved in conflicts that do not directly impact US interests.

Financial Regulations – We don’t need more financial regulations, we need better financial regulations, and if you don’t understand the difference, you’re probably a politician.   Better enforcement can be achieved through focusing on the most important and fundamental regulations and closing loopholes.

We also really need to stop all subsidies to sub-prime lending.  While that may make it easier for low income first time buyers to own a home, it also is largely what got us into the mess we are currently in.

Intellectual Property Law - It needs to be completely overhauled.  Current trends threaten expression and freedom of information.   At the same time, new legislation must be enacted to address new areas of intellectual property such as genetic engineering.   The laws need to be revamped and done in a manner that does not have a chilling effect on free speech and information exchange.  As a general rule I believe we need less restrictive IP law that grants greater “fair use” rights.  Above all else, such laws must not be crafted primarily by special interests.

Crime and Punishment – I am appalled by the fact that someone can commit murder and often get paroled within a few years.  In general, I believe the punishments for violent crime are both inconsistent and far too lenient.  I draw a huge line between property crime and violent crime.  Causing harm to another human being directly crosses a line and it is something that can’t be undone.  Murder takes a life and therefore  is a debt that can never be repaid.  Nobody who commits murder should ever see the light of freedom again.  Anyone who assaults and causes severe harm to another should be punished very severely with many many years in prison.  Violent sexual predators should be locked away for life with no exception.  It’s ridiculous to let these people out and then require tracking and registration.  If we know they are that dangerous to the community why let them out at all?

Of course, the prisons are not big enough to do this.  They would be, though, if we didn’t prosecute minor drug offenses the way we do, which is likewise ridiculous.  We don’t have enough room for murderers because too many inmates are only there because they had a little cocaine or even marijuana.

I am sure I will be asked what to do with the white-collar schemers who may not be violent but who stole billions.  Of course, they should be prosecuted aggressively too, as should anyone whose negligence in overseeing safety willfully resulted in conditions that cost life or limb.  However, this would be less of a problem if regulations were better enforced.  In a more open market with simpler, more easily enforced regulations, we’d catch them when they stole thousands, long before they could steal millions or billions.

Immigration – Our current immigration policy is absurd and is an affront to the legitimacy of the justice system.  Basically, we have made it a felony to enter and stay in the US without documentation, but we refuse to enforce that law, at least most of the time.   We have neither the political will to change it nor to enforce it.   It’s a situation that is intolerable because it erodes confidence in the law and results in millions entering the country illegally and without documentation.  The vast majority are perfectly honest and hard working, but amongst them are criminals, and since they all come in with no oversight, we can’t tell who is who nor can we provide basic protection to those undocumented entries.   Many industries also rely on this population for labor.

The solution must be two pronged.  First, we need to enforce the law.  Those who enter illegally must be deported.  If we know where they are, we can’t turn a blind eye.   This includes local law enforcement.   However, at the same time we must provide legal, reasonable methods of entering the country officially in order to pursue work.   Guest worker visas would allow for those outside the US to enter for the purpose of working and assure they are documented and that they are also protected from predatory hiring processes.

As for those already here, we may have to consider some sort of amnesty, since it’s not their fault that the system is so ridiculously broken.  However, it should also involve screening and documentation.

Illegal Drugs - Philosophically, I believe that a person can put anything they want into their body.  However, I’m not sure our society can really deal with such a way of life, especially given that it has had so many substances controlled for so long.   It is probably necessary to keep the strongest and most problematic drugs illegal as well as those that must be controlled for the greater good, such as antibiotics, which if completely self-administered would cause great problems such as increased resistance.   So while I accept that some drugs must be controlled, it makes no sense at all to expend so many resources in the failing effort to stop those of the least consequence and greatest prevalence, such as marijuana.  Those which are illegal should be policed by going primarily after the distributors and not the end users.

Abortion – (this will upset the more conservative types) – It has to be legal for practical reasons and it should be legal.   Not all pregnancies result in birth, many result in miscarriage and when they do, we don’t go blaming the woman for not taking perfect care of her health.   That’s because it’s her personal responsibility to decide how to deal with the pregnancy and that includes taking action to end it should she so choose.

Gun Control – (this will anger many conservatives and libertarians) – I have no fear of guns in general and I don’t believe they are inherently evil, but the fact of the matter is that guns make it very easy to kill and are extremely dangerous when handled irresponsibly.  Certainly more gun owners are responsible, but all illegal guns out there were generally legal guns that someone illegally sold, had stolen or otherwise ended up in the hands of criminals.  If greater responsibility were exercised, this would not be a problem.

The problem I have is that it requires much greater training, verification and licensing to own and operate a forklift than a firearm and more still to own and operate an automobile.  I’m only allowed to drive my car because I have a license and I had a test and vision exam, I have insurance and I had the car inspected and registered.   Regulations should require at least the same for firearms and should be difficult enough to dissuade casual users who don’t know what they’re doing and don’t care from obtaining them.

However, such regulations do not need to be imposed on all guns equally.   Full-sized bolt-action rifles are rarely used in crimes and rarely stolen.  They are too unwieldy to be used in most violent acts and are generally less prone to accidental firing.   However handguns should be difficult enough to obtain to stop those who don’t have a legitimate reason to get one from doing so.

Same-Sex Marriage – Ultimately this is a state-level issue, but I see no reasonable argument against it.   In truth, I’d be in favor of secularizing the entire marriage process by offering all couples a non-denominational “civil union” or “domestic union” which removes all religious connotations from the act.  If they want to call it marriage and have it blessed by a clergy-person, that’s up to them.

Healthcare - My general preference is to stay away from a complete government-run system.  I’d prefer to try to make it more affordable for individuals to buy through reforms like reforming the malpractice system and allowing for a greater variety of care facilities.  I would want to increase private insurance coverage by making it tax deductible and also providing incentives to employers who provide insurance.   Direct payment for coverage can continue but be reserved for those far too poor to pay for the cheaper coverage themselves.   This topic is too broad to discuss completely here.

Entitlements – I generally believe entitlements should be as limited as possible to keep them from becoming a “cradle-to-grave” system that is a huge burden on the government.   Welfare should be tied to requirements for seeking work and for maintaining good legal standing.   Also, entitlements need to be consolidated.  The current system is fragmented, inefficient and difficult to navigate.  Heating oil subsidies from the Department of Energy, Food Stamps from the Department of Agriculture, medical insurance from Medicare, Social Security payments from the Social Security Administration.   This is too messy, prone to abuse and difficult for those who really need it to figure out.

Education – This is really a state issue, but we need to maintain high and consistent standards in general and especially with science and technology.  Education should be intensive and well-funded.  I would like to see a greater involvement of industry in education, with companies having input on what they need in future workers.  Also, I’d like to see more involvement from those who are not career teachers in bringing their skills to the educational system.

One area that is extremely problematic is higher education.   It’s so expensive it prices out an entire class of citizens and makes it hard for even the middle class to afford a college degree.  The current system is also not inviting for everyone and is too rooted in a system originally intended to educate an elite few.   What we need is more avenues for students to pursue their degrees.  Part time schools and online programs are helping to fill this to some extent, but not enough.  I’d suggest we should focus a great deal more on allowing students to get credit for non-traditional learning such as work-study programs, apprenticeships and other programs that allow them to learn while supporting themselves and working.

Job-Creation – The government ultimately does not create jobs and any politician who says they have “created jobs” is lying.  The government, however, does get in the way of job creation.   Expanding employment will require a few things.  First, the government needs to establish a monetary policy that inspires confidence.  It also must have policies that encourage cheap and plentiful energy.

Finally, we must get out of the way of employers when it comes to hiring.   Hiring a new employee is amazingly difficult.   Just taking on a new worker requires income tax forms, social security forms, payroll taxes, wage documentation, hour documentation, OSHA compliance, ADA compliance, state taxes, medicare, workers compensation paperwork.   Large institutions can afford to have an entire human resources and payroll department dedicated to dealing with this mountain of regulation, but for small businesses it’s impossible.  This is also why many workers end up being paid “under the table,” which costs tax revenue.   We need to consolidate and simplify these regulations as much as possible.  That will result in job creation.

It’s no secret that I complain a lot about government policies.   Well, not long ago I was complaining about government policies (as I so often do) when my friend Hal Bidlack made a suggestion.  He thought that it was pretty easy to make these suggestions and complaints but that if I really cared and I really didn’t like the current candidates I should put up or shut up and actually run for office.   Well, it’s a bit hard to argue with that, especially because Hal himself ran for Congress.

I thought about it and the more I did the more I realized he had a point.  I’m not an experienced politician by any means and running might be a long shot, but the more I think about how I feel about the US and how it’s being run the more I realize I should at least make an effort to do something about it.  Worst case scenario is I can always say I tried.

So call me a fool, but at this point I’m seriously considering it.  In fact, I plan on making a formal decision by the end of the month.  Right now that makes me a “prospective candidate” or a “possible candidate.”

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Today I almost plunked down money for a useless product that was being sold to treat a condition it won’t actually help. No, it wasn’t on purpose and in the end, I caught myself but I came a lot closer than I’d have liked to falling for the scam and if I didn’t make it a point to be careful of this I would have.

Today has not been a good day for me. I woke up this morning with an itchy, watering, irritated eye. I wiped it, I splashed water in it and that did not seem to help. By the time I was driving to work my other eye was bothering me. In fact, my eyes were so irritated I could hardly keep them open for long and they were watering enough to make it a bit hard to see, especially with the glare of the early morning sun, low on the horizon. I had to keep stopping the car and wiping the tears from my watering eyes, closing them to regain my vision and returning to the road until they started bothering me enough to stop again.

By the time I was at work, it had become obvious that I was suffering from conjunctivitis, commonly known as pinkeye. The outer layer of my eye, the conjunctiva, had become inflamed and was bloodshot, itchy and irritated. It’s a fairly common condition which can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection. In my case, I’d later find out I probably have a minor viral infection, based on the symptoms. It’s generally not terribly serious and tends to clear up on its own within a couple of days, but it’s annoying and uncomfortable. It’s also fairly contagious, so it’s important to wash one’s hands, avoid touching common surfaces when possible and clean those that are touched.

My condition, however, was bad enough that I figured I should probably see a doctor. I made a call to my doctor’s office and was told that unless it was an emergency they wouldn’t be able to have anyone to see me until later in the afternoon. Of course, it’s not an emergency, so I was agreeable to waiting a few hours to have my eyes looked at.

Given that I had to wait a few hours, I went to my local drug store to see if there were any products that might be able to offer some kind of relief in the meantime. I wasn’t looking for a cure, but as my eyes were pretty sore, I thought that there might be some kind of anti-itch, anti-irritation eye drops that would, if nothing else, at least be soothing to my sore eyeballs.

And this is where I almost got swindled, because as I scanned across the shelf of eyedrop products, something caught my watery, itchy, squinting eyes:

I saw the pink eye and the words “Pinkeye relief,” and immediately thought to myself “Well that’s exactly what I’m looking for!”  I then read the indications, stating that it provided relief from redness, irritation and watery discharge.   Again, I thought it was perfect.

You may notice that there word “homeopathic” is written in thin white font against the red background of a tiny band that runs around the box just bellow the picture of the eye.   I literally couldn’t see this at all in my state.    I was really and truly about to buy this product.  Luckily, I have a habit of looking at the back fine print whenever I buy a health product, and this was no exception.  Despite my irritation, I wiped my eyes and forced them all the way open to examine the directions and active ingredients of the product.  Only then did I actually see the words “homeopathic.”

I’m also lucky in that I know what “homeopathy” means, which many people do not.   The fact that it’s homeopathic means that everything else on the front of the box can be discounted as a lie.  It says “relieves the redness, watery discharge & burning associated with conjunctivitis.”  Well, it doesn’t.  That’s just a bold faced lie.   You might think that it would do so, because it says it does right on the box and most products you find on the shelves of your local pharmacy are required by law to only make truthful statements about what symptoms they can provide relief to, but this is homeopathic, so they can lie.

The active ingredients are belladonna, euphrasia and hepar sulphuris, not because these ingredients actually have been shown to help the symptoms of pinkeye, but because if you put them in a healthy eye, they’ll make it get red, irritated and watery.   However, they’re diluted to the point where there are only a few molecules or less actually present in the final product, so there’s really no effect.   The only thing this product might do to help pinkeye is just provide a little bit of lubrication and moisturizing, which any eyedrop could do.

I was lucky to catch this.  In the end I bought some general purpose anti-itch eyedrops that cost half as much as the homeopathic version and actually have some active ingredients that help provide some itch relief.   They didn’t help all that much, but they seem to reduce the itch a bit.   (Note, this is not a placebo controlled study thus my opinion that they seem to help should not be considered to be an objective fact.)

But still, I was very nearly swindled by an extremely dishonest product making a false claim and sitting next to perfectly legitimate products in similar packaging on the same shelf.

And yes, I’m pissed!

I wonder if they actually picked the font and colors to make it intentionally difficult for a person with watery, irritated eyes to see it.  It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.

I wrote about this kind of thing a while ago, but this is the first time I was almost swindled, because I’m usually very careful about these sort of things.

I’d like to make something clear:  No posts or opinions expressed here are bought.   In fact, you can’t buy them because they’re not for sale.   I’m willing to post guest content from time to time, but only if I consider it to be something I can stand behind.  Furthermore, it’s always labeled as such and attributed to the proper creator.

That is why I am so downright offended by this e-mail:

Subject: Guest editorial on depletedcranium.com

Hi,

Could we purchase advertising on depletedcranium.com?

We could pay you $195 for a guest editorial about my client’s site (http://www.NAME OF A MEDICAL PRODUCT SITE.com/) and payment can be made by PayPal (or check delivered via FedEx US/Canada only).

I know time is valuable these days and I appreciate yours.

Sincerely,
NAME REMOVED
Marketing Assistant

Yep, that’s what I got. Of course, it had the actual name of the site and the name of the marketing assistant.

Obviously I did not actually accept this offer, but when I declined I was then responded to with another e-mail explaining that they understood that I was declining but then offering me $315 if I should happen to change my mind. Well, honestly, I could use $315, but not bad enough to take a blatant advertisement and pass it off as an editorial.

As for the site, it was not a blatantly quack-related site. It was basically a site about cosmetic surgery which would be used to find cosmetic surgeons in an area for those looking for cosmetic procedures. I suppose it could have been worked into this site and looked believable, perhaps by starting off by saying how some surgeons are quacks and then stating that people should go to this site for referrals to qualified ones.

However, if I did that, I’m not sure I could ever feel clean no matter how many showers I took.

So I must pose the question to any others who have blogs: Has anyone else ever gotten this kind of solicitation? Is this a common way of advertising?

Finally, I should add that while I’ve never actually published anything here for money and have no intention of it, I have to admit that it’s not impossible that I could be bought off – but it’s going to take a real real real lot of money.   So I’ll give this warning: if ever you see an article posted here that seems questionable and the next article posted is about my personal experiences in shopping for a private jet, moving to a private island or becoming a space tourist, you may assume that I have sold out

If you happen to live in the Northeastern United States and are involved in skepticism and science advocacy, you probably know the name Julia Galef.   In fact, even if you don’t live in the Northeastern United States and are involved in skepticism and science advocacy, you may know the name.

Julia is a writer, blogger, speaker and skeptic who has managed to become an important figure in public engagement in just a couple of years of involvement.   She’s been heavily involved in the establishment of the New York City Skeptics and contributed enormously to events like NECSS.   She also regularly hosts their podcast and has an excellent blog which she shares with her brother Jesse.

I’ve always liked Julia’s writing and addresses a lot.  She provides excellent intellectual analysis, but her style is light and entertaining, which is very important in making it accessible and maintaining broad appeal.  She has a great sense of humor which she manages to weave into her commentary very cleverly and subtly, making it all the more entertaining to read.

Julia is also exactly the kind of person who skepticism needs the most.   The stereotype of the skeptic is generally a rather stuck-up, old bitter white male, and Julia is none of those (well, except she is Caucasian, but none of the others.)  Rather, she’s the kind of engaging, youthful face of an ever expanding and inclusive movement.   Julia is also not prone to limiting things to the more traditional venues for skepticism.   Recently she wrote of her trip to Burningman, the kind of event one typically does not associate with skeptic types.

But unfortunately, this post is not simply about gushing over how great Julia is and how much everyone appreciates her seemingly limitless enthusiasm for empirical skepticism and science in popular culture.

I recently found out that Julia had been badly injured in a household accident.   She received some very serious burns after knocking over a pot of deep-frying oil, and has second and third degree burns over most of her legs.  Julia has been in the hospital for more than a week and is expected to be there for at least another week to ten days.  She stated that she will be “regrowing my skin and relearning to walk.”

(Note: I feel okay saying this because she has posted it on her public Facebook account and the topic has been discussed on forums and boards, so I’m pretty sure she’s not keeping it a secret.)

Like everyone else who heard this news, I was shocked and saddened that such a horrific accident had happened to such an admirable person.   In fact, I figured that my best wishes for her recovery deserved, at the very least, a blog post.

As for everyone else:

Since I know Julia is passionate about her contributions to skepticism, why don’t you go check out her blog and podcast.  Not only is the content great, but like any other author, I’m sure she loves having her stuff read.   Also, be sure to leave her some love in the comments, because she really needs it right now.

Keep on getting better, Julia, and if your moral starts to wane, remember how many of us appreciate what you do and are enthusiastically waiting to see you again, once you are fully recovered!

If you have been reading this blog for any period of time you have probably noticed that recently there have not been as many posts as normal.   There’s a reason for this:  I recently moved into a new place, and, as tends to be the case with moving, it’s turned out to be a bigger job than I thought.   First it was signing the lease and finalizing the documents.  Then it was moving stuff in.  Then came putting up blinds, hanging pictures and rolling out rugs.   After that I had to deal with the gas company, the cable company (who had to come twice because the junction box was in an area that required the building maintenance guy to access), and other service providers.   Then I had to go change my address at the DMV, the bank, the insurance company and everyone else who had my address on file.

Finally, I have recently been feeling like most of the work with moving was over and I could get back to posting as often as I normally do.

Now this…

Hurricane Irene is predicted to arrive in my area early Sunday, although tropical storm force winds and heavy wind may be here by tomorrow (Saturday).   All computer models and forecasts now predict a direct or near direct hit for my area (Southern Connecticut).   By the time it gets here it will likely be a strong category 1 or possibly a category 2 storm.  This will be the first hurricane to strike this area since Hurricane Bob in 1991.

I really do not expect anything catastrophic.   I’m reasonably near the coast, but well above sea level and there are no dikes or pump stations required to keep my area dry.   My building is well built of masonry and my family’s house is reasonably strong and sheltered.   Everything is insured and there’s nothing too fragile outdoors.

Still, it’s likely that there will be power outages and some roads may be impassable.   Internet is likely to be down (although I can get it by my wireless phone, as long as service is not interrupted).   The ground is fairly saturated so flooding is highly likely.  There’s always the chance that things could be worse than that.

Therefore, I’ll be spending the next day or so making various preparations for the possibility of extended power outages or other contingencies.

Thus, probably not so many posts for the next day and after that, we’ll see how things play out…